PLUS

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam tells an interesting story about our focus areas in his book Faithful Presence. It centers around a business development trip he made to Hangzhou, China during his tenure as governor to recruit business to Tennessee.

He describes how governors are treated as VIPs when they travel within the United States, but experience little to no fanfare when they travel internationally. In light of his previous experience, he was caught off guard when he landed in Hangzhou. Stepping off the airplane, Governor Haslam was greeted with a band, military fanfare, and gifts before being whisked away in a fancy limousine.

On the ride to his first meeting, he asked the host of the greeting delegation about the ceremonial arrival. The reply: “Do you really want to know?” After insisting that he wanted to understand the pomp and circumstance he just experienced, the host reluctantly shared an important truth: “It’s not about you. Hangzhou is hosting world leaders for the G20 Summit in a month, and we were practicing.”

Governor Haslam and his wife had been used as a training aid – a prop. It wasn’t about them!

Guess what Christians?! It isn’t about me and it isn’t about you. While God loves us and sent His Son to die as a sacrificial atonement for our sins, we must get our eyes off of ourselves.

We are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We are to get our minds away from focusing inward and instead shift our attention outward and upward. We are to think on things that are true, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, praise-worthy, and of a good report. We are to guard against ever thinking that it is all about us.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD SEEK TO HONOR, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP GOD AS OUR ABSOLUTE AND UNQUESTIONED PRIORITY. Who is it all about? It’s not about us, and it must always be about Him.

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

Daniel 1:19-20 “And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.”

Daniel 6:3 “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.”

One of the most iconic elements of Air Force pilot training is the morning standup. During these daily sessions, students are quizzed in front of their peers on general flying knowledge and system specifics. However, maybe the most challenging part of the standup are the emergency scenarios.

During these events, an instructor provides a detailed description of the situation and the emergency indications. They then pick a student and say, “Lieutenant, you’ve got the aircraft!”

The student is then expected to stand up and describe in detail to the instructors and other students in the flight what they will do to handle the situation. It’s a bit nerve racking and disorienting to be put on the spot in such a way.

Yet, there is an important lesson here. It is a lot easier to handle the challenges of the aviation environment during a standup than when a pilot is actually airborne. The stress of the standup is intentionally designed to prepare student pilots for the greater stressors of an operational environment. It is said that it is best to initially prepare for challenges when you are at 1G and 0 knots – as compared to the ever-changing conditions, time compression, and pressure that accompany a real-life emergency.

Daniel did exactly that! He prepared for the challenges to follow before they came. He conducted his own personal standup at 1G and 0 knots, purposing in his heart that he would do right and stay right. As a result, he was able to successfully deal with the ever-changing conditions, time compression, and pressure that accompanied his real-life emergencies.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PREPARE OURSELVES NOW FOR THE INEVITABLE CHALLENGES IN OUR FUTURE. The preparations we make at 1G and 0 knots will pay great dividends in our ability to handle the real-life emergencies that will follow.

ADMIN: I won’t be publishing a PLUS blog next weekend, but please keep praying faithfully for widespread revival in the United States of America while preparing for the future challenges!

Nehemiah 6:2-3 “That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?”

Nehemiah 12:27 “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.”

Nehemiah 12:43 “Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.”

Making progress for God will come with opposition. You will face obstacles in whatever you are doing for Him to bid, buy, or build. God is encouraging you to press on regardless of the challenges.

Nehemiah and his colleagues saw their own share of opposition. They endured mockery, ridicule, anger, and threats of violence. They were bombarded with discouragement, deception, and distraction. Yet they pressed on!

In the end, they resisted, and then rejoiced, and rejoiced, and rejoiced. Their expressions of joy were so powerful that their testimony was recognized throughout the surrounding area.

As you bid, buy, or build for God, expect opposition. Yet press on for Him! And when you successfully resist, then rejoice, and rejoice, and rejoice. The testimony in doing so will be recognized throughout your surrounding area.

It is a formula that follows the leadership of our spiritual forefathers. It also matches the pattern of our national forefathers as we rejoice during our nation’s semiquincentennial for what God has done for us!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO ENDURE CHALLENGES AS WE BID, BUY, OR BUILD FOR THE LORD. AND WHENEVER WE SEE SUCCESS, LET US REJOICE, REJOICE, AND REJOICE.

Galatians 6:3-4 “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”

II Corinthians 10:12-13 “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.”

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The University of Massachusetts football team recently finished a dismal season. They finished without a win and ended at the very bottom of the power rankings. Yet, they weren’t above celebrating small victories.

Towards the end of the game against Northern Illinois, when they were losing 45-0, they successfully kicked a field goal. And they celebrated!

The stadium launched a barrage of fireworks to recognize their accomplishment, the band played their fight song as if they had just won the national championship, and a section of guys took off their shirts and waved them around in the November night sky (see my previous post). No doubt there was a healthy dose of sarcasm in their response, but it does teach us a few things that are worth remembering.

It is okay to celebrate our victories, particularly when they align with God’s will and are free of superficial comparisons. Consistent bits of small and steady progress are typically more impactful than inconsistent and erratic surges of success.

Yet, there is an important caveat contained in the sentences above – we must consistently align with the Lord, never growing complacent or satisfied in anything other than perfectly meeting His standards.

Doing so requires vigilance. Doing so requires yieldedness. Doing so requires humble determination and heavenly focus, realizing that we will never arrive at our destination this side of heaven.

Doing so requires a lifetime of pressing toward the mark for the high calling of God in Jesus Christ, never letting up but celebrating victories along the way.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE FAITHFUL SUCCESS WITHOUT EVER LETTING UP IN OUR PRESS TOWARD THE MARK. Field goals, fireworks, and fight songs are nice, but the real touchdown is only in consistently pleasing Him!

Isaiah 5:20-21 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

I Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: nether can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

With us deep into the NCAA college football playoff, the next two posts are going to feed off that energy to share some recent football metaphors and illustrations. Enjoy!

Most of you probably don’t know the name Trent Eaton. Yet, there is a very good chance that you’ve seen a video of him that went viral three months ago at an Oklahoma State football game against Houston. In the midst of another dismal loss, Trent’s sister offered him $10 to go over to an empty section of the stadium, take off his shirt, and wave it over his head. Needing the money and appreciating the challenge, he did!

A few minutes later, a few others randomly joined him. Several minutes later, the entire section with filled with hundreds of boys and men doing the exact same thing. Though they lost that game 39 – 17, and didn’t win another football game for the rest of the season, it was a viral moment. In the end, they may have broken a record for the most shirtless guys in one section of a football stadium and they launched a cultural phenomenon.

A large number of people followed Trent, even though there was no real reason to do so. He wasn’t attractive nor loud; he wasn’t gregarious nor charismatic. It just became the thing to do, and people mindlessly followed him.

In this case, it was a harmless way to turn a looming football loss into a bit of fun and frivolity. But, it’s a stark reminder that we must be careful in following the cultural trends that are all around us, especially in a society that has flip-flopped good and evil, light and darkness, bitter and sweet.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO BE EAGER TO FOLLOW CHRIST AND CAUTIOUS AND DISCERNING BEFORE FOLLOWING ANYTHING FROM THE WORLD AROUND US. There are plenty who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Yet, we must carefully examine them to decide if they are right, and good, and godly before we join them in any previously empty section of a stadium.